Greetings tutorial seeker, today we will be learning how to draw the traditional Chinese dragon. What is a traditional Chinese dragon? It is a long serpentine beast that has more animal/humanoid features then dragon features. They are completely different to those of the western dragons. A Chinese dragon is a benevolent creature of beauty and elegancy. They have powers to only support beings that share the world with them. The traditional Chinese dragon was first developed in china. However, the Koreans claim that they developed these dragons. In reality, the Chinese have created the Chinese dragons and passed down the legend to the Koreans and the Japanese. Though the Japanese made their own category of dragons called the Japanese dragons. Japanese dragons are skinnier, have no mane, and fly less then the Chinese dragons and Korean dragons. What all three types of these beasts have in common is their serpentine figurine, deer horned reptilian head, and four to five claws on each foot and hand. All these dragons are friendly and are guardians of the clouds, sea, weather, fire, and earth. The most powerful Chinese dragon of all is the horned dragon. They are completely deaf and produce rain. The Chinese say that the head of the horned dragon points south and the tail points north. So how did these creatures fly? They flied by magic. This is what Chinese folklore had said. Another way these dragons could fly was by a magical pearl that would cling to the beast. All in all, these glorious creatures are the friendliest beasts mankind will ever discover. How do you tell the difference between a female and male Chinese dragon? Male Chinese dragons are larger and have bigger horns than the females. They also have bushier and longer manes then the females. Now female Chinese dragons have more scales, skinnier, rounder, smaller horns, and shinier nicer manes. Now that I’ve told you all about these incredible beasts, I will tell you how I drew this dragon. The Chinese dragon we will be drawing today is the horned dragon. I first sketched it out on lined paper. Then I made extra touchups on photoshop. All the coloring was done on this program too. Overall the image took me three hours to complete. So I hope this tutorial is helpful! Enjoy!

How to Draw a Traditional Chinese Dragon

STEP 1.

Okay step one always involves drawing out the guidelines and circle shapes needed to sketch out the tutorial image that I help you learn to draw. First draw one round shape for the Chinese dragon head, then draw a total five small circles for the hands, arms, legs, and feet. After that you can go ahead and draw out the ear shapes that are regular triangles, and the shapes inside of the face. After you have your image looking just like the one above, you can move down to the next step. Don't forget to draw out the shape of the Chinese dragons outer head hair and the horns that resemble twigs.

STEP 2.

Now in this step what you will be doing is drawing out the outer structure of the snake like body. next draw out the facial features as well like the eye brows and eyes, along with the shape of the snout and nose and lining for the open mouth. Thicken the horns and sketch out the arms and claws on top, and the legs and feet with the claws on the bottom. When your sketch looks like the one above you can then move to the next step.

STEP 3.

Here is where your drawing will get more intense and detailed. What you need to do first is sketch out the definition and details on the Chinese dragons face. He has wide open eyes that are regular circles. Sketch in the hair around the face. Next detail the tail and body with some simple lines scattered through out the body, and draw in the whiskers that these dragons have. Detail the claws on both the hands and feet and add the hair lining that they have on the back of their legs and arms.

STEP 4.

n=All you will be doing here is drawing and sketching out the detail in the Chinese dragons mane that goes all over the head and along the entire snake like body. This is a very easy process to do just use your pencil like a paint brush and lightly stroke back and forth as if you where sketching out hair. Do this until your sketch resembles the one above. After you complete that erase all the sketch lines, guidelines, and circle shapes.

STEP 5.

This is what your finished sketch should look like when you are completely done. Now I colored my traditional Chinese dragon yellow with orange hues but you can color it anything you want I always say. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to draw a traditional Chinese dragon. I will see you next time Y'all.

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